Bequest
by greenspitball
Summary: Chapter5 posted. Years after leaving Sunnydale an unexpected member of the gang gets a call...can they save a life already lost? .
1. Chapter 1

Bequest

The room was messy, not filthy by any means, but it wore the distinctive look of a long time single males apartment. The bed was not exactly unmade, but with the haphazard way the comforter had been pulled straight was far from being truly neat. The same was true of the dishes in the sink, not the festering pile of moldy food you would find in the home of a mentally unstable old person, nor the piles of unwashed socks and underwear of a college boys dorm, but more then the couple of unrinsed plates a smart young couple might leave while the watched the end of their show or enjoyed a glass of wine.

The single male that lived in the room was currently in the bathroom, standing before the sink in his boxers and brushing his teeth rapidly with a toothbrush, pausing to rinse with a tooth mug and turning his face so that the single unpatched eye he possessed could inspect his pearly white teeth. Satisfied he rinsed the last of the toothpaste from his mouth and dumped the brush into its holder, glancing at his watch, a tired, battered looking old digital model with a strap that had begun to fray. Swearing he grabbed his jeans which had seen better days. Though not worn out by any means but were certainly nearing that day. He pulled a black T-shirt over his muscular torso.

"Late..." He muttered to himself, grabbing his keys and phone from the bedside as he walked from the bathroom into the living/sleeping area and towards the door. Glancing at the phone he frowned, seeing that he had a missed call. He'd check it later.

He liked the familiar feel of the vans seat against him as he sat for a moment, looking at the morning. It would be a good day today, of that he was sure. Slipping the key into the ignition, pulling slowly away from the curb and heading for the end of the street. The phone in his pocket vibrated and he rolled his eyes, pulling it out and glancing at the caller.

"Hey Willow!" he said, sliding his thumb to answer the call, and put her on speaker, "What's up?"

"Hi." Her voice was full of warmth, and he wondered why he didn't keep in touch more, but since he'd left all that behind it had just been that way. He eased the nose of the van into traffic, thankful that he could choose his own hours and thus avoid the madness of rush hour, "How's the weather?"

"Balmy..." He smiled, "I think its gonna be good down on the beach later...oh yeah..." he thought happily of the surfboard strapped to the inside wall of the van behind him, waiting for work to be finished, "How's things back home?"

He knew she was jealous of the Hawaiian weather even if she wouldn't be seen dead on a surf board.

"Oh…the usual…"

"What's up?" He kept his voice friendly, he was always there if she needed him but really he had better things to do then play word games.

"Uhh.. its...complicated." she paused then said in her real low thoughtful voice, "really really complicated...and...I…don't know how to say it.."

"Complicated? For Willow Rosenberg?" He laughed, "Come on, we've known each other for how long? Best pals forever..."

"Oh..." she breathed, "Its.." He gripped the wheel, suddenly worried.

"Willow! What's happened?"

"I'm flying you home tonight...on the Council dime…" She was crying, "Its...Oh JESSIE... I really need to see you."

He found a car waiting for him at the airport, the driver a typical council goon with close cropped gray hair and an expensive suit holding a printed sign for "McNally"

"Would you like me to take your bags sir?" he offered in an accent Jesse didn't recognize, all clipped, with hard constantans.

"Nah...I'm fine." he followed the guy to his car, a blacked out Mercedes. The guy even held the door for him. HQ was a in an old warehouse with offices above and as they drove inside Jesse felt a tingle pass over his skin from the magical charm that made the place 'dim', seen but unnoticed by those who walked past. The goon told him that "Miz Roz'nberg" wanted to see him right away and led him straight up to her office.

The guy knocked hard on her door and Jesse's hart left just a little when he heard Willows voice call out, inquiring who was there.

"Van Kemp, Miz.. I have him." The way he spoke made it sound like Jesse was in cuffs or something..

The door opened suddenly and Willow was enveloping him in her arms, hugging him close. He held her tight, not sure what could possibly have happened to make her drop her total cool infront of other Watchers.

"Watch the door." she told the goon who nodded as she pulled Jesse inside, shutting the heavy door and running the bolt.

"Willow…whats up?" He was genuinely worried.

"We have a big problem...Big opportunity… " She pulled him over to her desk, which was in full battle mode- two laptops and a pile of books along with copious notes. Jesse stiffened slightly, forcing a smile when he saw the blond girl sitting at the table, for just a moment it could have been Buffy, but then she looked in his direction and the illusion was broken by thick lensed glasses and the worst acne he'd ever seen.

"Hi..." the girl smiled gormlessly at him, every bit the geeky teenager, a trace of British on her accent, "You probably don't remember me...?"

"Jenny? Your all grow'd up!" He said, grinning his trademark grin, "Man...I'm getting old."

He ignored her offered hand, instead leaning down to hug her briefly, "You work here now?"

"A bit..." She made a horrible sound, like she was trying to giggle and breathe underwater at the same time, blushing bright red….ugh, teenagers…had he ever been that young?

"Jenny's great..." Willow told him, "Just like her dad." She glanced away, not wanting to meet his gaze for a moment, instead walking over to pour herself a coffee, glancing back with a quizzical look.

"Got a beer instead?" He caught the thrown bottle expertly, cracking the top and capturing the escaping foam with his mouth as he slid into the other chair, demanding "OK…spill!"

Willow nodded at Jenny who was rummaging through a pile of papers, pushing one over to him she watched his face as Jesses eyes ran over the copy of a charcole sketch, "You know this thing?"

"Some kinda demon...Ugly. Don't think I ever saw one." He shook his head, "She Aint go'to win any beauty contest." all veiney and lumpy, wearing some kind of weird frock and holding something as if towards the viewer. Jesse looked closer, frowning, it looked like some kind of pendant.

"This is a Vengeance Demon...named...uhh...Annie."

"Annie?" Jesse frowned, "Like the orphan, for real?"

"It wont tell us its real name." Willow shrugged, sitting in her own chair and drinking some coffee, "We trapped it a couple a'months ago."

"How'd you do that?" he was impressed, trapping something like that was a feat.

"Annie..." Jenny spoke up, grinning meanly, "kinda had a **PHOBIA**."

"Demons got phobias?" Weird, the idea had never occurred to Jesses back in the old days when he and Buffy and the gang had been fighting them... back then things had been pretty simple, you saw a bad thing, you killed it, you went home and... he blinked , realizing that he had missed what she was saying, "Sorry...say that again?"

"We have her in a holding cell and have been interrogating her."

"Kinda dangerous…"  
"You think?" Willow deadpanned, "Yeah...but no so much danger after we took this off her." She pushed a box across the table towards him; it held an ugly pendant set with a stone.

"What is it?" Jesse knew better then to try to touch it, it looked like an overdone piece of costume jewelry, aside from the sinister cool that seemed to emanate from it. Oh yeah, this was the real deal...

"As far as we can tell it's where she gets her power from…or maybe just the focus..." Jenny shrugged, she was obviously the new resident expert on magics and artifacts. He wondered if the flash of pain he felt was jealousy or pity.

"Either way, she was a little upset when we took it."

"Oh yeah..." He breathed, returning his captivated gaze to the evil thing, fingers gliding through the air just above its surface "I'll bet..."

"McNally!" Willow snapped her fingers, breaking the spell so that he looked away from it again and up at her.

"Yeah.." She nodded knowingly, "It does that."

"What you plan to do with it?" he made a point of not looking at the stone, fixing his eyes instead on the two women.

"The council hasn't decided yet." Willow smiled thinly.

"So...what do YOU plan to do? And why am I here?" he stole another glance, just a glance at the stone, "You know I don't do this STUFF anymore."

"I know." Willow looked away for a second, blushing a little with what he took to be shame, "But…" She glanced over at Jenny who went on for her with the wide mouthed impetuosity of youth.

"But Willow doesn't trust anyone else with the stone-Not even ME!"

"Your too young." Willows voice told Jesse that she had had this conversation before, many times, "I promised your Mom…"

"I don't know that you should trust me…" Jesse shook his head, "You know I had…I HAVE…a problem with this stuff." He felt the familiar itching in his fingers and the slight warmth of his palms, the coppery taste in his mouth he always got, no, HAD, past tense, always got before pulling a big spell. Magic…Crack for the spiritual, who'd have thunk it?

"I don't know that you should do anything with this thing."

"Do you think you could use it… if you had to?"

"Oh Yeah…" his own voice and the hunger in his tone scared him and for a second he hated Willow for bothering him with this…this was HER life, vamp's and Demons and magic was WATCHER stuff.

"Ok…cut to the chase- what do you want?"

Willow hesitated, and at that moment he knew it was something so bad, so dangerous that there was no way she'd get the cone heads on the council to let her do it.

"I need you to save her…I want you to bring Buffy back."

Jesse took at deep breath, eyes widening with shock as Willow said the words. She stared at him, watching his reaction while Jenny's eyes moved between the two of them.

"You want to resurrect Buffy…" he nodded slowly, tried to keep the eagerness out of his voice, the idea was crazy, crazy bad, "I WANT to, you know I...we...I WANT to do it...but…there's no…NO…NO way would that work out good…you've got no idea."

"I do tec… you're the magic-ey guy." She smiled, puffing air upwards in a self depreciating manner, "But even I'm not dumb enough to try bringing someone back from the DEAD…Jenny had another idea."

The teenager grinned, "What if Buffy never died?"

"She...uhh…kinda did." Jesse rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"Sure…" Jenny spoke slowly, "But what if she DIDN'T die…what if you'd been there just a second sooner…what if you had gotten there just a bit sooner and saved her before she died? Before Angelus…before he…" she looked eagerly at him, expectantly watching for his reaction.

"You weren't even born then!" He growled, angry all over again, suddenly as angry as he had been that night and for years afterwards, "What do you even know about it?"

"Not much." She replied in a hurt tone and he felt like a jerk suddenly as the anger drained away. She's lost someone that night too.

"What's the plan?" He might as well hear it.

"I think you can use the pendant to open a…a…uhh…time portal." Jenny glanced at the pile of papers infrount of her, tapping a finger on a line of equations, "I think we can intervene and save her."

Buffy...alive and in his arms…oh yeah, that sounded good. He thought about the years since then, all those empty wasted years.

"Wont that throw a wrench in the universe or something?" he frowned suddenly, "Not that I know much about that kinda thing but…" his frown deepened into a scowl, false modesty aside he knew plenty about magic and he didn't like to think about what might happen if he showed up two minets before himself and saved Buffy…just because HIS personal world had pretty much ended that night didn't mean that he was willing to risk screwing up the entire real world for other people…only a complete jackass would do that. Back then he'd have done it in a heartbeat whatever the cost, but now fear or wisdom held him back.

"Your crazy…" he shook his head, "You don't KNOW what that would do… _ **I**_ don't know what it would… What about Kendra? If she didn't get called…and Faith…but…" His brain was trying to think in four dimensions and he could already see lots of things Buffy living through that night might mess up…big, world changing, close run things with no guarantee that they would turn out better/

"Your Crazy!" He repeated, "You could mess up the whole world!"

"Not the way we plan to do it!" Willow held up a hand, stopping him as she went on, "Buffy died that night…if she lived through then it would kinda make the world…go..,well…uhh…"

"Wibbly wobbly!" Supplied Jenny, causing Jesse to roll his eyes.

"But!" Willow went on, so excited that she was actually bouncing in her seat a little, "But…BUT…if you travel back to that night, the night she died, and BRING her back here! Then everything that happens still happens…until now is the NOW… where we have Buffy."

"Holy moley…" Jesse's eyes widened, it was STILL a crazy bad idea but it might just work.

"I came up with it!" Jenny piped up excitedly, showing her immaturity by actually clapping her hands, "I did the math's and it should work…but I cant do that kind of magic. Mom could, but Willow…" she trailed off as the older woman shot a warning look.

"But…there are problems…the body.." He took a gulp of his beer.

"We have taken that into account."

Jesse found himself suddenly out of the portal, breathing sharply in with shock and blinking with horror at his suddenly blindness. The moment of panic subsided as he realized his eyes were not damaged, it was just dark outside. A moment before he had been in the brightly lit warehouse Willow had rented on the south side of town. Back then….back NOW, it had been a run down park.

Jesse calmed his breathing, slowly letting his pupils adjust to the night and his heart rate slow… he ran thought the plan in his mind, checking each step before he moved a muscle. Handling heavy magics in the past had taught him to never, NEVER, rush off half cocked and the pendant was really heavy, and far darker then anything he'd ever handled before.

"Ok my precious…" he muttered sarcastically as he checked the stone was still on its chain around his neck… he didn't want to have to live through the last 20 years all over again. He took a breath as each step carefully drilled into his brain over the last two days was rehearsed and visualized, finally, in his minds eye opening the portal and stepping back to the future.

"Lets go…" He took off at a fast jog across the park, keeping an eye open for vamps or even the possible (if rare, this was after all Sunnydale) actual stroller out for an evening. He couldn't let ANYONE even see him, if possible. Actually TALKING or interacting in any way was totally off-limits.

He reached the road, ducking behind a park trashcan as a car went by. The small cemetery on the other side of the road was dark, but he could hear voices. Slipping unseen across the road he dropped to a crouch and moved from stone to stone towards the action.

Unseen Jesse stopped behind Jones crypt, hearing the voices clearly for the first time.

"Ahh… I couldn't possibly let you miss this…." Jesse almost vomited when he heard Angeluses voice, snide and sarcastic, "After all you're the one who made _**ALL**_ this possible…"

"Angel…." Buffy sounded tired, Jesse knew that she had been up all the previous night arguing with him about…he pushed THAT thought away, he'd moved on from Buffys infidelity long ago and now it was almost show time. He could afford no distractions.

The bang was what had drawn him, the him from back now, here tonight…the sound still surprised him though he knew it was coming.

He didn't recall her scream, but he took a breath and waited as he heard her fall against the tomb, breath coming in heavy sobs.

"Ahh… will ya look at that, someone brought a stake to a gun fight…" even though he knew what was going to happen next it took every ounce of Jesses self control to keep still.

"You…You…" She was trying to say something, and he heard her nails scrabbling on the wall of the crypt as she stepped, falling around the corner and moaning.

"You Bastard!" Jesses was surprised by the sound of his own, much younger sounding, voice. Did he still have that nasal whine?

"Ahh, now look…it's the boy wonder…" There was the twanging crack of a powerful crossbow followed by a derisive laugh from Angelus, "Nice shot...close but you dont win no Teddy Bear for missing, Boy."

Jesse ignored the old drama playing itself out on the other side of the crypt for the first time , instead moving around and reaching Buffy who was staring silently into space. With one hand he slapped the small brown root onto the earth beside her, rubbing it in the blood that was pumping slowly from the hole in her chest. With other hand was already on her.

"J…Jes.." she was moving her mouth, trying to say something but he ignored her, instead gripping the stone with his now free hand and focusing his mind on what he had to do next…. Had anyone been watching they would have seen the two pop out of existence and a second later the brown root he had left behind began to grow, taking on a vaguely human form that rapidly became more and more like Buffy.

An observer would have been distracted by the sound of fighting coming from around the corner. There was a second twang and a womans voice, crystal clear despite the hate dripping from each word spoke, "That's for Giles….Burn in hell you son of a bitch."

####

Buffy looked pale, unnervingly dead to Jesses eye as he stood beside the bed in the small room. Willow stood beside him, dressed in an over sized sweater despite the warmth of the room. The two friends didn't speak, instead she dropped a hand down beside his, briefly touching hands and squeezing his fingers so quick that he was almost not sure it had happened.

The doctors, mystical and medical, had worked fast on her, drawing out the single .45 caliber bullet in her lung and fixing the damage.

Now they just had to wait for the damage to heal, for the slayers supernatural strength to fix their friend. As they stood beside the bed they saw Buffys eyelids flutter as she stirred a little in her sleep, opening open eye and then another she smiled, looking confused but happy, "'Wil'? What you doing in my room?" a flash of confusion passed over her face as she ran her last memories over in her minds eye, "I dreamed…" she shook her head, "No…I…and Jesse…but…" She looked over her friends faces, blinking and repeating the slow examination of the two.

"Angel…shot…Oh no…No! I was in a coma wasn't I? For years and years and now I'm all crinkly and old like you guys!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter two_

A few days after her awakening Jesse walked beside Buffy through the Mall as she sucked noisily on her milkshake, taking in the new world, and talking…and talking and talking.

"Wow…" she rolled her eyes again at what a girl her own age was wearing, "I guess the Fashionocalypse happened while I was dead." She sucked more on the straw of her empty shake.

"Yeah…I guess." He sipped his coffee and tried to ignore how irritating the gurgling slurping sucking sound was. She had wanted to see the outside straight away.

"Not that I'm not grateful!" She reached hastily out a hand and rubbed his arm, then she looked away, "I…I was…about what happened with Angelus…uhm…and…well….Angel…I…"

"Huh?" He blinked in surprise, the memory of his anger and hurt at her betrayal briefly surfacing in his memory, like a distant whale blowing before sinking back into the ocean, "Oh…yeah…long time ago…well, for me." He shrugged,

"Oh…" she blushed, "Yeah…I guess for you it is…but, for me…what happened was…"

"Its OK." He smiled, and was surprised by her reaction.

"Its TOTALLY not OK…what…happened." She blinked, "Last night…last night TO ME…we talked and you…you said…"  
"Buffy." Dropping his coffee into the trash he turned to face her, gripping her firmly on the forearms just below her elbow joint, "I don't want you to worry about it…its gone, I want you to think about getting yourself straight here…getting your life back together…we're cool, totally cool."

"We are?" large eyed she blinked away tears, "You forgive me? We're totally cool?"

"Totally!" he reassured her as she began to blubber, flinging her arms around him and hugging him tight, "Oh Jesse! You're the best boyfriend EVER!"

Without hesitating he gripped her tight, stiffening when he heard the girl who's clothes Buffy had been critical of loudly stage whisper to her friend "Eww…cradlesnatching..."

##

A little later they sat eating in the food court, holding hands while he filled Buffy in on a synopsis of the events of the last decades and she shoveled food into her mouth at a prodigious rate with her free limb. He resisted the urge to tell her to slow down before she got indigestion.

"So your like… a Boy Witch?" her eyes had widened at his description of a couple of the fights they had had when she had been...away.

He winced, "Nooooo…. A Boy Witch would be a warlock. I do,I DID, a few spells for the gang back in the day."

"Back in the day?" She half grinned at him, "Cute…older boyfriend talk."

"Oh…sorry. Didn't mean to sound condescending."

"No…I Like it." She nodded, "Makes you sound all experienced, worldly … James Bond like with a hint of Giles…" She frowned, "Where is Giles?"

"Oh." Jesse grimaced, wishing that they had had a chance to breif her before her super fast Slayer healing had made her want to be mobile again "I guess you never knew, before he shot you Angelus killed him."

"Giles is…dead?" her face fell and she really did begin to cry this time.

"Yeah…sorry about that. Should have told you." Jesse glanced around at the people who were noticing.

"Sorry about that?" she snapped, "Your 'SORRY' about forgetting to tell me my…best…my uhh…" she struggled to find a word for the man, "My…uhh..Giles…is DEAD." She began blubbering again and he looked at her , not sure if he should hug her or what. Her eyes widened suddenly as another thought came to her, "What about my Mom?"

"I…I uhh…I'm sorry." He felt suddenly out of his depth, way out, "I think it was a brain tumor or something…maybe…ten years ago?"

She gave a low moan, dropping her face to the table, eyes fixed millimeters from its glossy if dirty surface, after a long pause she asked, "My…dad?"

"I don't know…" he reached out his hands, resting them both on her shoulders and doing his best to give her comfort. He took one hand from her and reached into his pocket when his phone vibrated sharply, holding it over her shoulder as he checked the message.

COME BACK RIGHT . WILLOW

#####

He arrived to chaos, this office had about thirty people full time, technicians, doctors and lawyers, some actual Watchers like Willow and a number of thugs like the one who had picked him up from the airport. At least double that number of people were currently decamping from SUV's. He saw Willow talking to a heavy set bearded man he didn't recognize, she saw him and Buffy at the same time some of the new arrivals did.

"Whats happening?" Buffy asked, stiffening as a number of suited people approached.

"Just be cool Buffy…" Jesse said in a low, warning voice, "Take it easy and it should all be OK."

"Miss Summers?" A middle aged thin and dangerous looking Englishman in glasses asked her, making it quite clear he knew the answer anyway. He had an ugly scar that ran under his right eye, zizzaged down his cheek and the side of his neck before vanished into the impeccably white collar of his shirt.

"Who are you?" Buffy looked at him suspiciously, folding her arms across her chest.

"Wyndham-Price…Delighted to meet you. If you would just…" He smiled, indicating that she should come into the building with him, "We can get this over with quick smart."

"Get WHAT over with?" Jesse asked, stepping forwards to interspaced himself a little between them.

"The examination…serious events have transpired here. Serious, ahh, events that require us to take stock of the situation." He raised an eyebrow at Jesse's expression, "However, for Miss Summers, at this time, its mainly a medical examination."

"What about Willow?"

"Ahh… well, that remains to be seen…" He smiled blandly, "The council will make every effort to ascertain exactly what has transpired here." Behind him a young woman walked up, she wore a loose fitting track suit, brown hair cropped short and hard green eyes studying the two of them, especially Buffy.

"I don't think Buffy wants-" Jesse stepped forwards, this time standing directly between them, the girl was already moving, a shift of weight that was almost imperceptible as she readied herself for violence.

"OK." Buffy stepped past him, "Its OK Jesse…" she studied the man, glancing superciliously over at the girl, "But Jesse gets to leave."

"Ahh.." Price looked pained, "Well…we would PREFER if he were to-"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Jesse protested, stepping up beside her, "I'm as much part of this as she is."

"Jesse." Buffy put a hand on his shoulder.

"No way Buffy… look, you don't know these people."

"If we could take this inside…now?" Price asked, "Please?" he blew air irritatedly, glancing over his shoulder and shaking his head, "Sari…do you think you could go and fetch my case from the car? We don't need you right now…" His bland, expressionless face softened for a moment as he spoke to her and she gave a small half smile in return, relaxing and stepping back two steps. She didn't leave though, and Jesse got the feeling that were he or Buffy to approach the Watcher too fast things would get very bad, very quickly.

"Miss Summers…" The English man glanced around, looking uncomfortable, "We really should get-" Moving rapidly he body slammed her, taking her by surprise and she stumbled backwards and skidded onto her backside.

"What the H-" Jesses shout of anger was cut off when he saw that the spreading red spot on the Englishmans shirt.

"Oh," he made a coughing attempt at a laugh, "That's going to stain…" falling forwards as there was a puff of dust on the concrete of the parking lot right beside Buffy and a high pitched whizzing sound.

The people in the parking lot began to move fast, most running for the building, the girl, Prices Slayer as Jesse had guessed, was dragging her Watcher back into the building while Buffy was on her feet and pulling Jesse with her into the cover of the building. A couple of the Council thugs had drawn handguns which they were pointing around at nothing in particular…under gunned, he realized, no surprise since they didn't really DO firearms very well. It just wasn't their thing.

Once safely in the cover of the lobby Buffy didn't spare him a glance as she rushed back out the main entrance.

######

Sari the Vampire Slayer didn't speak much to those around her, even had English been her native tongue. She was laconic even in the German spoken in her home Canton of Switzerland.

She didn't like guns, but had no strong feelings against them. She just distrusted them in the manner of one who is used to having physical superiority over those around her and did not like the way they made others an equal threat to herself without a Slayers gifts or years of training.

She was, however, Swiss, and her brother had loved shooting. Firearms were no great mystery to her and after she lay Wesley down on the carpet of the lobby and closed his eyes gently with her fingertips she found her mind calmly running through the shooting positions the bullet could have come from. The building across the street seemed most likely to her.

With controlled power she turned, running down the hall to where she had seen a fire exit, kicking it open and bursting out into the alleyway. She didn't stop for a second, crossing the alley and pressing herself against the wall, crouching low and scanning the windows across the street…this industrial park was run down. The council building was the only one currently in use. Thinking only of her path she burst forth, crossing the gap between her building and the other with inhuman speed, Inhuman, slayer speed.

When she caught the sniper they was going to see just how inhuman she could be.

######

Jesse caught up with Willow in the lobby as the panicked people milled about. She bumped his arm, nodding her head sideways and heading for the hallway. He followed and they ducked into an office, Willow locking the door before turning to him and gripping his forearms with a hurried, panic stricken look upon her face.

"What's going on?" He asked her as she silently closed the door.

"The Council has suspended me…pending an investigation…pending them firing me. Not important now." She shrugged, blowing an irritated breath through pursed lips, "I knew they would."

"Who the hell is shooting?"

"They'll kill Buffy!" Willow said urgently, leaning towards him and speaking in a sharp voice "I don't have time to explain! You need to open the portal!"  
"What Portal?" He was confused, feeling overwhelmed by this life that he had tried very hard to leave behind.

"The Portal! There's a feed back loop!" Willow gripped his arms urgently, "Jenny worked it out this morning! If we don't open it to bleed off the Tacheons it could cause a loop!"

"Whaaa…" he blinked, unsure what she was saying.

"Jenny realized it this morning….I called you but then the Council showed up…they know about the loop! They wont let me open the portal…the only other way to close it is to KILL Buffy!"

"Kill Buffy! I wont let…" He felt a wave of dark anger rise from his navel, through his chest and up into his throat. It should have scared him how easily the anger came back.

"You wont be able to! We need to close the loop! NOW Before they get to her!" Willow thrust the box containing the pendant into his hands. "You need to do it NOW!"

"Back to the night…." He reached in, grasping the cold stone in his hand and beginning to focus his will.

"No!" Willow slapped his arm urgently…pulling from her pocket a piece of paper with neat handwriting upon it, "Jenny worked it out…. Here!" She shoved a piece of crumpled paper into his hand and he read the scrawled date, frowning for a moment.

"I…" He was about to tell her that he didn't understand when the door handle was gently turned, making them both glance in its direction. The latch in the center of the knob was turned down to lock it. There was a very short pause then the handle was tried again, this time more forcefully and with a shake.

"Quickly!" Willow hissed and he obeyed, focusing his mind on the date, trying to see the past and feeling the aura of unreality around the stones edges fold and warp to his will. The portal formed beside him, less clearly then before, not as well defined and with an ugly swirling blackness.

"Thanks!" Willow smiled at him just as several things happened simultatiously….first the door flew open, propelled by the boot of a rather fat black man holding a telescoping baton, second a look of sad solemnity spread across Willows face and she backed into the portal, giving a half wave, and third Jesse realized the significance of the date on the paper.

He was just reaching out a hand towards Willow when real time seamed to kick in and two tiny darts dug into his clothes and 100,000 volts shocked the sudden understanding of betrayal right back out of his brain, along with consciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

2500 words

Sari crossed the hallway in a second, taking the door of the room off with a flying kick and following the door into the room. She absorbed the energy of her impact with a silent, perfectly exucted roll that brought her up just where the shooter was.

"Scheisse!" She ground her teeth at the sight, a desk had been pushed up near the window to provide a decent field of fire and upon it was set a self loading rifle held on some kind of robotic bench rest cradle was adjusted by servo's. The telescopic sight had a camera fixed to the eye piece, wired to a small laptop that was controlling the rifles cradle.

A look of disgust on her face she pulled the wire out of the camera, blinding the operator who fired off the last three rounds in the magazine blind, safe wherever he was hiding. Sari's face went through a horrible rictus of grimacing and dry crying for a moment, abruptly settling down as the other Slayer arrived, panting hard as she skidded to a halt, surveying the room.

"You are late." Sari said coldly, without turning since she didn't yet trust her face to remain impassive, "In more ways then one…THIS…" She waved at the remote controlled gun, " is for others then us to decipher."

##

Anton Travers studied the face of his boss worriedly, "We have the gun down in the lab right now."

"Not much to go on….mores the pity," James Saxon straightened his cufflinks, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from his jacket sleeve a second later.

"I can beat him if you desire….or the girl." Sari's voice was calm, but with a barely discernable edge of anger. All three stood speaking softly in the hallway outside the office that had been Willow Rosenberg's.

"Thank you Sari," Saxon smiled at her gratefully, almost in the manner of an indulgent father, "But subtler methods are needed to dig to the bottom of this particular midden…" He glanced at Travers, thinking what a nasty, obsequious little man he was, quite unlike his vigorous uncle who had headed the council just a few decades before.

"Sir?" Gwd….that expectant look, he even cocked his head like one of those small dogs Saxon so detested, a Dachshund perhaps, or one of those horrible little miniature Doberman. Still, he mused, such men had their uses.

"Did we bring Veritas stones?"

"Yes sir." If he had possessed a tail Travers would surely have been wagging it at that moment, "I broke out two before the interrogations began. If they say a lie we'll know about it!"

##

In the cold iron cage set in the basement of the building sat what looked like a young blond woman, forgotten for the moment in all the excitement. She wore a simple blue dress, sensible shoes and a glum expression.

"There goes reality again…." She muttered, blowing a frustrated raspberry, "And Who'll get the blame?"

##

Willow stepped through the portal and fell a foot or so onto wet grass, twisting her ankle as she landed. There was a horrible popping sound and she gave a strangled moan, trying to clutch it as she rolled. The portals black swirling mass vanished almost immediately, unheeded by Willow, consumed by pain as she was at that moment.

"Ooohhh…." She panted, trying to regain her composure as she clutched her knee and lower leg protectively against herself, "Oohhh…should have brought some codeine…" She blew a pained almost laugh and gritted her teeth, "I'll think….of that….oh…Ahhhh…NEXT TIME…" She looked around, trying to see where she was. The sun was up, at least she wouldn't have to worry about Vamps- that was atleast something positive. She was on wet grass… a lawn? No…it looked familiar though memory eluded herin her current state.

"Mam?" She looked around as a shadowy figure loomed over her, the sun directly behind him, "Are you alright Mam? Its just that these are school grounds."

"Principle Flutie!" She found herself smiling widely all of a sudden, irrationally pleased at the sound of his long forgotten voice.

##

Willow accepted the arm of Principle Flutie as he helped her to the nurses office where the dour faced nurse, whom Flutie referred to "Edie" , checked out her ankle.

Willow had only been to the nurse one time during her tenure as a student here, remembering her as a sour old grump. Memory did not deceive her.

"Not broken…It'll heal." The woman pronounced, sounding a little disappointed, "See your Doctor…you'll probably need a brace or something."

Flutie smiled broadly, either glad that she was well or that suing the school for a broken ankle was no longer on his long, long list of concerns.

"Well…now that's taken care of we can call you a taxi and get you off campus where you belong."

"Yes…" She smiled, "But, you see Principle Flutie… I DO belong here."

"You're a little old to be a student." He gave her that goofy smile she remembered, warming her heart.

"Computer Science teacher extraordinaire." She held out her hand, "Paula Reese…at your service!"

##

Jesse wondered why the were asking so many questions, it was tedious, and a little uncomfortable sitting in a cheep office chair.

He knew that around the Council things _**could**_ get very uncomfortable, very quickly, though, so he kept calm and answered their questions, mostly politely.

"When did you last talk to Rosenberg prior to her summoning you to Sunnydale?" Asked the taller of the two impeccably dressed interrogators, glancing at the thick paper folder in his hands as he walked around the empty room. For all Jesse knew the guy was reading the Councils bar tab.

"About a year before." He said, "She phoned, uhh about Christmas I think…maybe a week before?" He ran a hand over his face, making a scratching sound as his palm ran over the patch, "She wished me a happy holiday…not Christmas… she never does."

"Did she mention anything special?" The other one, who was shorter but far, far more handsome. A real pretty boy with a mass of blond hair that undulated when he moved his head. Jesse considered telling him he looked like a porn star with a rug like that on his head but refrained, instead shaking his head.

"She just talked…general stuff…she broke up with her boyfriend, or maybe that was last year." He shrugged, "I only met him once…" Jarred had not made much of an impression, on him or Willow probably. She had been through a half dozen similar relationships in the time he had known her, more friends with benefits then true lovers and confidants. Even the brief time they had played couple a year before he had left, barely two weeks into it she had backed out and made him promise to never mention it again. He had not taken it personally; she just didn't do the whole couple thing.

"Let's take this from the top…." The taller one leafed through some more pages in his folder, "Just one more time."

##

"I PROMISE!...OMG, I totally promise that I had NO IDEA that Willow was going to go total crazy!" Jenny pushed her glasses up, trying to keep her cool as she spoke to the two Council guys questioning her in the copier room. She looked at the small yellow crystal that one had laid on the water cooler, the Veritas stone didn't change color, showing that she was not a liar.

"Do you have any idea what Miss Rosenberg might have been planning to do in the past?"

"Absolute!Totallly 120 percents did I not!" Jenny said, her voice rising in pitch, "I totally didn't know what she would do…"

"Do?" he looked puzzled, "Whatever she was going to do must have failed or we'd be different here….." he looked around the room, suddenly uncertain, "Wouldn't we? She must have failed…"

"Whatever she is doing wont hit us here for….." she cocked her head to one side and considered, "About six or seven hours…our time."

"What are you talking about?" He shook his head, "If she changed anything we'd be different here NOW….uhh…wouldn't we? The, uhh, time line….uhm.." He trailed off as she shook her head in irritation.

"Its is more like a mass of tangled cables…nope, hoses, only not like hoses, but, anyway like hoses…."

"Fire hoses?"

"Yeah…" she pushed her glasses up, considering, "Like a big old rats nest of water hoses…and one of those hoses just got the water turned on…only not like water, more like, uhh…a probability wave….and its inflating and pushing the other hoses out of the way as it gets bigger…the part of the hose where the water is, that's where the event is….and its coming down to us really, really quickly….." she swallowed, looking serious.

"And when it reaches us….things will change?" His voice wavered a little.

"Yes, If we're lucky..." She drew a breath, "But, on the other hand it COULD do something pretty bad to the universe when it gets here…the, uhh, time hose is shoving the other hoses out of the way as it moves with the water pressure…only, well, not exactly…but you see?"

"What sort of thing?" the guy asking questions looked alarmed.

"I don't know!" she almost wailed, "It could make us all pooooof out of existence, or turn the world inside out, or pop the membrane we're standing on…"

"Membrane?" He looked at his feet, studying the carpet as if expecting the floor to suddenly open and devour him.

"Yes...the membrane the universe is on!" She shook her head, "I don't know WHAT is going to happen…the only one who might be able to tell you is Annie."

"Who?" the man looked at her in puzzlement.

"Annie….the Vengeance Demon? You know, the one we keep in the basement?"

"You have a vengeance demon in the basement?"

"Well…duh…where do you think the Stone came from?"

"Its alive?"

"The stone?" She shook her head, "How can a stone be alive?"

"No, the Demon!" he snapped, exasperated.

"Oh...yeah...Last I saw her." She shrugged.

"In the basement?" he paled, looking suddenly more unnerved then he had been at the thought of the universe popping like a soap bubble.

##

Travers shivered as he studied the vile creature in the cage, its true visage hidden by a charm so that it looked like just a pretty young woman.

"Its rude to stare!" it told him, "And did you bring me some thing to eat?"

When he didn't answer but continued looking it scowled at him, warning "I'm probably taking over your mind while you stare at me…."

He hissed in alarm, looking down at the concrete floor.

"Don't be a fool…" Saxon admonished him briskly, "If she could do that she wouldn't be IN the cage now would she?"

"I don't see how Rosenburg managed to keep this a secret from us…." Travers said in a whisper, raising his eyes a little but avoiding directly gazing at the creature in the cage.

"Yes….was very resourceful, our Miss Rosenberg." Mused Saxon as he studied the cage, "Meteoric iron I'd bet…." He glanced at Jenny who nodded, flashing a grin.

"Have you ever dealt with one of these before?" He asked the only other person in the room. The news that they might all cease to exist in a few hours was something probably kept quiet for the moment.

"Head," Sari said simply, coldly eyeing the occupant of the cage and holding up the heavy machete she carried by its sheathed blade in her left hand, "Not difficult…messy."

"Can we dispense with the idle threatening part and get to where you offer me the deal?" The demon rolled its eyes, "If you planned on killing me you wouldn't be talking about it."

Saxon chuckled, nodding, "Clever girl..uhh...thing.…very well. DO you know what has transpired?" she nodded spo he continued, "WHAT will happen?"  
"I don't KNOW what will happen…" she tossed her blond hair as Saxon fixed her with a steady glare, "Not EXACTLY….but when the knot unraveling itself down the time line reaches here in, I'd say, your going to see BIG changes…that redhead…" she made a face, "She's kinda scary. I don't like her."

"What can be done to stop it?"

"Nothing." She shrugged, unfazed by the horrified look on Saxons face, "Its already happened….you cant change that."

"What about if we drop a team five minets before she arrives and intercept her?"

"Then…." She considered, "You'd PROBIBLY survive long enough to know what being turned inside out feels like….probably."

"Oh Gwd help us…" he covered his eyes, his massive frame seaming to crumple as he turned away, "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"You could bring me something to eat?" the Vengeance demon whined, "I'm partial to seafood…perhaps some shrimp?"

"Sir!" Jenny piped up excitedly, "I know exactly what to do!"

"What?" He asked tiredly, a new unfamiliar and unwelcome feeling wracking his body… defeat was not something that happened to him often, utter defeat like this he had never suffered.

"We can counter her! If we go back and minimize whatever she does we can

stop her ruining the universe….well, mostly." She shoved her glasses up her nose as her mind raced, "We can save the now…well, MOST of the now…"

"Spotty has a plan…" The demon snarked from the cage, "Sounds good. Bring me lunch."

"Could it work?" Travers demanded, suddenly growing a backbone and looking straight at the Vengence Demon, "If we send her back and stop Rosenberg will we save THIS world, just as it is now?"

The blond hair bobbed as she shrugged, disinterestedly, "Maybe. Some of it… If the redhead plans to shoot the president or become God-Emperor of the Earth...now theres a highly overrated job if you ask me... or something like that…then stopping her would stop SOME of the changes."

"No, no, no." Saxon shook his head, "If we make changes in the past we don't know WHAT might happen here."

"But SIR!" Travers argued, stepping up to his boss and looking him seriously in the face, "We've ALREADY lost the present….whats heading towards us is ALREADY what Rosenberg decided….you know I've had my doubts about her…"  
"Yes, yes…it's a little late to say I told you so…"

"Whatever she is planning is probably very dark! An apocalypse, or something worse!" Travers actually put his hands on Saxons shoulders such was his agitation, "We MUST stop it before she succeeds!"

Saxon sighed, taking a slow deep breath before nodding slowly, "Your right, ofcorse you are… I allowed personal weakness to overcome me…unconscionable of me…" he closed his eyes and thought for a moment, breathing to center himself.

"We must," He pronounced, voice once again fullof booming authority, "send back someone to stop Willow Rosenberg before she irreparably damages the present."

"I will eliminate her." Sari said evenly. Her voice held no emotion, but behind her eyes terrible vengeance was being extracted for the death of her Watcher.

"Meh…" Anyanka interrupted, snorting derisively "Four dimensional beings changing time…kind of like a fish trying to change the flow of the river."

"Willow is changing history right now!" Objected Jenny, "Why shouldn't we?"

"You cab TRY…" The demon smirked nastily, "But you'll never reach her…you'll just get stuck in last week…" she made swimming motions with her hand, imitating the action of swimming against a strong current "The Redhead has made a big wave…Swim little fishy." She gave a nasty laugh. "A wave no human operating my Stone could get past."

"But…" Saxon closed his eyes, smiling wryly, "I suppose that YOU could do it?"

"I MIGHT…." She smiled, "if you offered a good enough deal…and I don't starve to death before hand."


	4. Chapter 4

Jesse 4

Rupert Giles hummed happily to himself as he worked cataloguing the books in the library, tut tut-ing for a moment at yet another ! It was almost as if they had had a total fool doing the job… "No system, no system at all…" he mused softly to himself, glancing from the printed list in his hand to the pile of books on the table as his other hand reached out for his mug of cooling tea.

"Careful!" he was surprised by the voice, turning his head as a hand slid over his own and caught the mug just before it slid off the edge of the table and crashed to the floor.

"Easy there Mr Giles…" the woman who had rescued his absolute favorite kitty mug from destruction smiled at him, a slight flush filling her cheeks as she blinked, glancing away shyly as she placed the beverage more securely onto the wide table he was working at, "I know how much you like that cup."  
"You do…?" He found himself smiling, looking quizzically at her.

"Uhh..." she gave a little laugh, "Stands to reason…new librarian, organizing the stacks…favorite cup…stands to reason."

She smiled and he found himself smiling back for just a second too long, "Can I help you…Mrs…?" She looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't quite place her.

"Reese." She looked around the Library with the look of someone who actually enjoyed being there, unlike the irksome students who had thus far frequented the place.

"Paula Reese….I just started teaching Computer Science." She brushed a stray lock of red hair out of her eyes and looked back at him, "Just thought I'd, you know, come check out the Library…all the time I spent here….happy memories…." She gulped at the look of puzzlement on his face, beginning to babble a little "Back….when I went to High school, that is, Uhh…I always liked it in the Library…in my High school….which was not this one…" She blushed bright crimson, running one hand up over her mouth.

"Uhh…anyway…please to see you ali…" She coughed, "Sorry…a…ALL busy and hard at work….Going now….Bye!" Her brow crinkled as if she had said something incredibly stupid, which Puzzled Giles as he watched her give a spastic armed wave and back out of the library.

"What an extraordinary woman…" He mused, a small smile settling upon his lips as he returned to work.

##

 _Well, THAT was stupid!_ Willow chided herself as she headed down the hallway, shaking her head angrily, talking like some stupid teenager. She had most definitely evolved in the last twenty years…it must be being back here in the High School.

Her lip curled in a snarl…she would most definitely NOT be babbling like a fool next time she bumped into someone she had known.

Her watch buzzed against her wrist, so she hurried along to get ready for class. The technology back here was amazingly slow but she actually found it a little comforting to work on the old, 'state of the art' , machines. She laughed inwardly thinking about it…. She had more computing power in her pocket then the whole school possessed...and more available whenever she needed it.

It had been soothing to spend an hour yesterday replacing the faulty memory cards in a machine far more primitive then the one in her pocket….She had welcomed the distraction. Turning into the class room a good five minets early she was surprised to see a student sitting at one of the machines, typing happily away.

"Uhh….hello!" The student almost jumped out of her chair, wringing her hands nervously, "I wasn't doing anything wrong…just, uhh…uhh…"

"Working on your typing skills?" Willow smiled soothingly, trying to keep the slight sneer of disbelief off of her face as she surveyed her younger self…why had she EVER thought it was ok to walk around in a romper overall like an overgrown baby?

Uhh….and had she always done that _thing_ with her fingers? And why hadnt't she ever said what she wanted to say, rather then making 'Uhh' sounds….

##

"Uhh, Yes…" Younger Willow stammered, looking in alarm at the sneer of disgust on the new teachers face…Willow blinked suddenly and then frowned. The lady looked kinda familiar somehow, kinda like Aunt Bettie from New York, only meaner and with more crows feet and…. Uhh, and now she was talking…?

"…Record."

Uh oh…what had the new teacher said? The mean look was gone from her face but now she was looking like she was waiting for the answer to a question. Willow just stared, keeping her mouth shut and hoping that the woman would repeat the question, no such luck, instead she just snorted and shook her head….did this mean that she would hate Willow from now on? Would she mark her down? Willow felt the familiar wave of anxiety rise up from her stomach to settle in her throat as that horrible feeling of being about to vomit.

The woman, Miz Reese shook her head, suddenly smiling as she pointed to the machine, "OK Rosenberg, you can start by printing out the assignment sheet for me…its in the "ASI" sub directory in "CLASS". I'll need fifteen copies."

"Sure!" Willow got busy doing as the teacher asked, typing in the commands that would draw the document she wanted up from the system, sending it over the network to the printer so she could present the pile to Miz Reese who was sitting at her desk messing with her own computer.

"So slow…." Miz Reese complained, shaking her head in disgust. Willow wondered where she had taught before, PERSONALLY she'd been really impressed with how fast the machine had been running while she tried to hack the school's database a few minets earlier.

"Put one sheet at each workstation please…" As she looked towards the door as the students began to arrive, singly or in pairs, Miz Reeses face became very strange, calm, but also sad as she watched the students arriving. Most slung their bags under their chair or desk, either looking expectantly at the new teacher or snatching a final few words of conversations begun in the hall or earlier.

Xander arrived, talking animatedly with Jesse as he walked through the door. He paused momentarily to grin his goofy grin at her and Willow felt her heart melt for a moment, going all warm and gooey inside her as a wave of the warm, mildly gooey happiness she always associated with Xander rose in her chest and up in her throat. THAT feeling always felt so much better then the anxiety that lived there most of the time. Jesse waved at her, heading over to his station and Xander to his.

Willow turned her head, why she could not say, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Miz Reeses face change, for just a brief flash. Willow was almost unsure she had really seen the expression, so rapidly did it vanish to be replaced with a steady, even calm and educator authority. But, just for that tiny flash Willow saw…something.

Willow wondered what was wrong with the lady, but class was beginning so she didn't have time to dwell upon it.

##

"Miz Reese" felt old as she left the school grounds, getting into the car she had bought for cash yesterday and just sitting a moment, her fingers resting on the wheel, knuckles whitening as she gripped tight and slowly let a calming breath escape her lips.

 _Its alright_ , she told herself, _no one recognized you….why would they? You could be your own mom._

Still, fear gnawed at her heart, a literal feeling in her case. She'd taken two tablets today, which had taken the edge off her anxiety, though only just.

She was in way over her head…but what choice did she have? None….no that wasn't quite true, she _could_ just let events take their natural progression. She could just live the next twenty years of her life catching up with herself... Willow sniggered, even that choice was risky- just being here had disrupted events.

The real Paula Reese had been primed to take this job, even if only for the short time before Jenny arrived… she'd left her home in Idaho and driven cross country to take the position at the well funded Sunnydale High with its bright shiney new computers…left her mom, who would die in three years time in a car accident never having seen her daughter again.

 _History already happened,_ Willow chided herself, _she was dead anyway...YOU could have saved her! Except that she COULD have… could have arrived in that alley an hour earlier and killed the vampire rather then just clean up its mess._

 _T_ he accusing inner voice stung her…. but another slow cleansing breath drove the unwelcome thoughts from her mind. She was, after all, a Watcher. She had learned in a hard school just how one had to make the tough calls...but she didn't have to like it.

She drew a slow breath in, controlling her breathing was the first step to controlling the terrible fear that gripped her now. She was committed…there was no going back, no where to go back to even. _**That**_ world was gone and a new one was being built on its ashes. Built this and every next second…. A world built by her.

She lifted her left hand from the wheel. She reached out to close her fingers on the ignition and turn the key. She opened her eyes, looking for a moment at the students milling around or heading home and had to blink away tears.

##

Willow adjusted the strap of her romper as she walked into the library, looking around with a small but happy smile. She loved to come here, and always had, even though Xander and Jesse could hardly be dragged here unless it was to avoid something worse.

This was HER free period, and gosh darn it if she wasn't going to spend it where she liked best, in the library…. Though the fact that the boys had decided to spend _their_ free time talking about which girls were hottest might have weighed upon her decision, just a little.

Mr. Giles, the new librarian, was talking with the new computer science teacher up on the second level… she was telling him about the benefits of computer filing.

"Yes…I do see that, but paper cards wont stop working if the power fails." He didn't sound like his heart was in the argument, he was smiling too much.

"Well… Once we get the system set up in here it will be much better."

Miz Reese was smiling too, Willow wondered if they were sweet on each other. She didn't like to eavesdrop so she shuffled her feet noisily and both adults gave as little start, like she'd caught them doing something wrong.

Willow smiled at them, suppressing a giggle and shuffling off to find a book.

##

Darla enjoyed the scent of this town at night…it smelt of hidden death, with just a hint of zesty fear and paranoia floating underneath as one approached the High School…you could practically inhale it here. Yes, to someone who had seen more then a few Witch hunts the scent was unmistakable and perhaps that was what had first drawn her here to Sunnydale High… her search for the master had so far been fruitless, but now that she had enlisted aid it was only a matter of time.

"I don't like it…" Lukes voice was horribly jarring…even if her nature had not been hate filled and evil Darla would have found him irritating.

"WHAT now?" she had been toying with the idea of getting a teacher and painting a mural with their guts in the school cafeteria...but here he was _**again**_ interrupting her thoughts. Also it was impossible to sneak up on anyone with Luke booming out dire statements every few minets.

"Something is happening…" He rested his hands on his lapels and loomed like the useless lump of meat he was.

"Something…" she pointed out as if speaking to a child, "Is ALWAYS happening…especially here…do you think you could be more specific?"

"Ahh…." He considered, looking sage for a moment as he rested his hands on his lapels and considered before deflating and admitting "I cannot." With a regretful shake of the head

"Well…" She growled, "That's not very useful is it?"

"I think that I may have a lead on the location of the Master." Luke changed the subject, if he was embarrassed he didn't show it. That was Luke…his thoughts probably boomed around in his head like his voice because there was so much empty space for them to echo on in there.

"That's great…" She sniffed, shaking her head and looking around at the darkness and thought of all the other vampires she could be hanging out with.

Darla cheered herself with the thought that as soon as he had served his purpose and helped her restore the Master to the face of the earth Luke was heading for the ashtray.

##

Jesse sat in the room which was not-quite-a-cell waiting for the world to end, he wondered what kind of strange new one would take its place. The impassive Council goon in the corner smoked a cigarette and quietly surfed the Net on his phone.

"Nice one McNally…." he muttered to himself, feeling sick blowing the damn world up was an all together new level of screw up for him. The door creaked open and he started with a rather pointless alarm. It wasn't like the Council was going to have him shot at dawn or anything, or that the sentence would matter in a few more hours. He just wished that he and Buffy could have been spending their last moments as themselves with each other.

Jenny stepped into the room, bringing a finger to her lips and shusshing him width exaggerated motions as she moved into the room and looked around. He noticed the pungent smell that came with her… cinnamon , some other spices he did not recognize at once and burnt ashes. Moving towards the goon who didn't react to her presence Jenny mumbled a few words, touching his forhead and stepping aside as he crumpled forwards and hit his head on the industrial carpet with a slightly sickening thump.

"Oh…." Jenny looked concerned for a moment then shrugged and turned to face Jesse, "New spell...never used it before."

"What are you doing?" he asked irritated.

"We need to get out of here..." Jenny explained, glancing at her watch and bobbing from side to side for a second as she calculated something, "We have about 15 minets left."

"Where are you planning to go?" He asked, smiling slightly at her enthusiasm, he'd been that way once, before the years had ground him down.

"For now the basement...THEN..." she frowned at his immobility, "Look… I cant get down there alone. It'll take more then a sleepy spell and a Dimming."

He nodded, being invisible was hard, very hard, being just not very noticeable to people, especially people who weren't paying attention, was a lot easier. He'd used similar spells himself.

"THEN…." Jenny went on, "you and me are gonna follow that Swiss Miss thru the Portal and stop Willow from TOTALLY screwing up the world."

Jesse considered, "First we need Buffy."

"We dont have ti..." Shaking her head with exasperation when she saw his expression Jenny nodded, "We need to HURRY!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sari walked silently through the darkened streets, sniffing at the unusual scent of the past. The analytical part of her mind knew that it was probably just that they used different chemicals in the past then in her own time but the animal part, the hunter, the Slayer, part of her nature was set on edge.

In reality the danger thus far had been negligible. The town was clearly not yet as infested with the Undead as it later came to be. Walking swiftly down the street she was already running the list of tasks that she would need to accomplish in the morning through her head.

##

Travers and Saxon watched the foul demon smile as it closed the portal behind Sari. Its horrible visage looked even more terrifying with the expression.

"Now..." it said with a gloating voice, "I am fre..." Its words were cut off by a sharp crack as the explosive charge in the collar it wore decapitated it. The headless body made a kind of jerk, flinging arms and legs every which way as it fell to the floor of its cage and spurted blood from the ruin of its neck. Demons were so untrustworthy that it was little wonder Rosenburg had needed her old friend to work the stone.

"Always the gloating..." Snorting Saxon brushed a lump of skull which still had hair attached from his shoulder. His disdain was evident in his voice, "Stupid habit."

"Yes sir..." Travers looked as if he was about to vomit, pale and shaky the man was really only a shadow of his forebears. Still… he had stiffened Saxons resolve when it had been needed. Perhaps courage could be like a ball...passed from one to another as it was needed.

"How long...do you think…." Travers looked around as if expecting the walls to start melting around him.

"Not long...not long now." Saxon, breaking protocol and precedent,rested what he hoped was a comforting arm on his subordinates shoulder, "We've done our duty old friend…. Since neither of us have time to get home to our loved ones I suggest we go and open that bottle of Single Malt Rosenburg kept in her office."

"But..." Travers indicated the mess, "Surely we must...The.."

"No one would ever read the report even if you had time to write it…" Saxon shrugged, letting his arm slide from Travers shoulder as he walked from the room.

After a moment more looking at the mess in the cage Travers took a fast shaky breath, moving his gaze over the remaining men in the room, "Your dismissed. Do whatever you feel is… is most appropriate. Its been an honour to serve with you."

He turned to follow his boss and, after a few moments of looking uncertainly at each other, the remaining men wandered off singly or in small groups to spend their last moments as they saw fit.

##

Giles smiled as he poured the wine, "You like this place then?" he asked as he studied Paula across the table.

"It'll be a real hit..." She grimaced as she ate a forkful of Meatball, "Just as soon as they get the recipe perfected."

"Is it off?"

"Nope..." She dabbed her mouth with her napkin, "Just not quite what I expected." She smiled,taking a sip of the wine and studying him.

"I must say, you've been making me feel very welcome."  
"Just two new folks in town..." She shrugged her bare shoulders, "Got to make each other feel welcome."

He didn't reply,instead taking a drink from his own glass and looking her over with a thoughtful smile.

##

Willow reddened as she realized that her words had sounded kinda like a come on. Her hue brightened when she realized that she had _**meant**_ them as such.

 _SILLY,_ she chided herself, _Your here for one reason only!_

Giles had been so OLD before…. Cool and interesting and smart, yeah, but OLD. She suppressed a giggle… now SHE was old, even to herself- to her old self...no that made no sense… to her CURRENT self… to the Willow that belonged here. The Willow who's life was going to change. The Willow who would live the life that she had been meant to live. The Willow who would be happy.

At the back of her mind, however, a small thought rose. A quiet voice that asked _What about the ME me though?_ When she had begun this enterprise she'd not given much thought to what would happen to HER, didn't SHE deserve happiness too?

Giles was talking and she realized that she had missed what he'd said, "Sorry?"

"I said.." He smiled,and a most charming smile it was really, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Just thinking about work. " She blew a lock of hair out of her face, "Kids… computers are the next big thing. Trust me."

"Possibly." He made a slightly disgusted face, as if she'd told him that Tea was henceforth going to be made with caramel miracle whip instead of milk.

"You don't approve?" she raised an eyebrow at him, Jenny- Jenny Calender- had converted him to the point that he'd wanted to digitize the Watchers Diaries to make them computer searchable. He'd been working on that when Angel had killed him… Willow had finished that project herself, nearly a decade later.

"Its just that computers..." he shrugged, "They lack something that books possess."  
"The Smell?" she asked, leaning towards him.

"Yes!" he agreed, surprised at the realization and leaning forwards towards her himself, "I'd miss the smell!"

##

Buffy was barely breathing fast when they reached the cell though both he and Jenny were panting. Jesse said a word very loudly when she saw the corpse that had been a Vengeance Demon laying in the pool of gore.

Jenny turned, looking at him in surprise, "I thought you knew you'd have to do it."

"I'm not sure I can." He said honestly.

"Other options looking not here…." she snapped, drawing a key from the folds of her loose hanging grey padded jacket and slipping it into the lock. The door opened with a creak and Jenny snatched up the pendant from the corpse with a tout hesitation using a two fingered grip. She turned, making an 'Eww' face as she tossed it him.

He let the Stone bounce against his chest and clatter to the floor, watching it fall and with a poker face.

"No." He breathed the word slowly, shaking his head ever so slightly.

"We need to do it NOW." Jenny snapped at him as she pulled herself up to her full hight which was still far less then his own.

"No...I cant..." he shook his head, "Maybe...maybe it'll be better this time around."  
"Buffy! Tell him!" Jenny actually stamped her foot with irritation, "We got to do this NOW!"  
"I'm..." Buffy looked overwhelmed, as if this was just too much for her, "I'm… I'm OK with whatever Jesse decides to do."

The Slayer moved up behind him, slipping an arm through his, "I got a chance to apologize and see the man I love with all my heart one last time." she paused, clutching him closer, "If thats all the extra time I get then thats enough."

"Aww..." He gave his head an angry shake, extending his hand and let the Pendant fly up into it.

"Hold on!" he called in a voice hardly his own, inhuman eyes of jet black looking out of his face.

##

Sari the Vampire Slayer woke up in the horrible cheep hotel room she had paid for using old bills. Morning sunlight streamed through dirty windows covered with threadbare curtains that were presumably not intended to encourage guests to sleep until noon.

"Blagh..." She spat a glob of yellow phlegm onto the floor as she sat up and threw her booted feet off the bed. She had slept fully dressed, the heavy storage belt on her middle hidden only when she closed her jacket.

Heading out she let the door bang shut behind her,reading from a mental map as she made her way to the Jeweller. The old man behind the cash register looked up at her as she walked in, scowling at her. His expression changed as she slapped three gold Kuger Rand coins down on the counter top.

"Cash..." she said simply, "And I need some other things from you."

"Who..."

"I have more for trade later." She said simply, keeping her face blank, "Or...if you would prefer I can go elsewhere." She made as if to scoop the coins up again but the man seized her wrist. Sari was irritated at the contact, pulling to free herself.

"No… no need to do that." He crooned softly, eyes on the gold and not seeing her surprise and alarm, "We can do business!"

She pulled her arm again, experimentally, and fought to keep the rising tide of panic from showing on her stony face.

She no longer possessed Slayer strength.


End file.
